Reply #11: IFK blog gives Kerry kudos [View All]

Kerry Understands How Dems Will Win in 2006
Say what you will about John Kerry, but he gets it. He understands what the dems need to do to win in 2006 and beyond. He realizes the Democratic Party will always face an uphill battle unless they organize year around and build the party at the state level. I fully agree. Obviously having Dean as the party chair should help in this regard. In the past too much emphasis was placed on fundraising and little to organizing and building the party and promoting its message.

One of my biggest issues in 2004 was how the democratic party was so unorganized at the state level and Kerry's team had to scramble to get fully up to speed with less than 6 months to organize a national campaign. Local organizers weren't plugged in to national and vice versa. Voter lists were pathetically lacking. There was duplication of much work and outsourcing of other important grassroots work to groups like ACT,who couldn't actually promote Kerry (or any candidate) by name because they were restricted by campaign laws. Face facts: the Republicans did a better job of reaching their target audience (and getting out the vote) in certain battle ground states.

Like Kerry I also don't believe dems need to run away from their values and ideas or try to rebrand themselves. While others like Biden and Hillary are trying their best to sound tough, positioning themselves to the right, I think Kerry's common sense approach and priorities for America's future have much more potential in the long run.

Here are two articles from Kerry's recent stop at a Democratic Legislative Campaign Committee luncheon in Seattle where he lays out his commitment to building the state parties and building on the grassroots support from the last election.